5 Chicago Bears replacement options for Matt Nagy

1. Leslie Frazier, Buffalo Bills Defensive Coordinator

One of the things a lot of people want is an offensive-minded head coach. The question is, how did that work out with Nagy? The Bears tried to go that way with Marc Trestman as well, but neither one did well.

On the other hand, Lovie Smith was one of the best Chicago Bears coaches in franchise history. He had a record of 81-63 with Chicago and led the team to two NFC Conference championships and a Super Bowl appearance.

One way to appeal to Chairman of the Board George McCaskey is having a connection to the glory days. It worked with Geroge “Papa Bear” Halas when he hired Mike Ditka as head coach.

Leslie Frazier was a player on the greatest Chicago Bears team and one of the greatest teams ever in the history of the NFL. He was a member of the famous 1985 Bears team that went 15-1 and tore through everyone in the playoffs on their way to a dominating Super Bowl victory.

Frazier was the Minnesota Vikings head coach from late 2010 through the 2013 season. Before he became the head coach of Minnesota he was the team’s defensive coordinator. He’s been the Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator since 2017 and also ran the defenses for the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Wherever he’s gone, one of the positives about his was his ability to connect with his players.

Frazier has already been linked to the Bears. According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, Frazier could be a serious candidate.

"There’s a fair bit of smoke connecting Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier to Chicago. The question then would be who he would bring as offensive coordinator to oversee the development of Fields. Current Bills quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey could be a candidate."

The key here is the offensive coordinator. If Frazier gets a good one he could then help in rebuilding an aging and regressing defense.